Death

Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
the carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.
-First stanza, The Chariot by Emily Dickinson

The concept of death is so foreign to many of us. Even right at this moment, my mind cannot seem to grasp the idea of Death occuring to any of my loved ones. I was devastated when my great-grandmother passed away earlier this year and I remember clearly, how I stood by her coffin on the last day of the ceremony and I tried to the best of my ability to memorise her face, her looks, before they took her away to be cremated.

I was just reading the blog of a girl, whose loved one was taken away by Death. And her words hit me. They hit me hard. I was in tears in mere minutes. And it made me think. Like I said, I am unable to accept the fact that one fine day, Death will come and take my loved ones away. So I started thinking. What if, one day, the person lying in the coffin were my grandparents...? And one day, what if, the person lying in the coffin were my parents...?

And I find that I still am unable to accept it.

Unfortunately, Death is all too real.

And Death will come, one fine day, whether you like it or not. Death will come.

For a very long time, I pushed all these thoughts away. I kept thinking "Aiya, let's not think about it now... They're all still well and alive..." But of course, there's nothing we can do to stop death. Sure, science, technology and medicine has certainly prolonged our lives, but death is still our inevitable end.

So. What's the gist of this all?

Treasure your loved ones now: your family, your relatives, your friends.
And never take them for granted.
Never let Death be the one to make you realise the value of what you have just lost.